Social Mobility

Bob Ainsworth: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what steps he is taking to increase social mobility in (a) Coventry, (b) the west midlands and (c) England; and what measures his Department uses to assess the effectiveness of the Government’s social mobility strategy.

Nicholas Clegg: The Government is committed to improving social mobility, as set out in our social mobility strategy, “Opening Doors, Breaking Barriers”, published in 2011. The strategy sets out a plan for improving social mobility across the whole country, incorporating polices such as early education for two-year-olds from lower income families, the Pupil Premium and the Youth Contract.
	To assess the progress of this strategy, the Government has committed to reporting regularly on a set of key indicators to track closely whether we are moving in the right direction on social mobility; I chair a group of key Ministers to oversee delivery of the strategy, and the Government has created a new Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission.
	These indicators were last updated in November last year, and will be updated again shortly.

Direct Selling

Jim Sheridan: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what assessment he has made of the effect of fines imposed by the Information Commissioner's Office on reducing nuisance calls and texts.

Edward Vaizey: No such assessment has been made, but we are aware that after ICO issued a large monetary penalty in November 2012 for spam text messages, the monitoring service Cloudmark reported a 10% drop in unsolicited spam SMS text messages. We remain keen to ensure robust enforcement of the regulations, so that companies breaking the rules are caught and penalised.
	Our Nuisance Calls Action Plan that was published on 30 March 2014, details the range of legislative and non-legislative measures being taken forward to tackle nuisance calls and texts and the plan can be viewed at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/news/nuisance-calls-action-plan-unveiled

Mobile Phones

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what steps he is taking to ensure that all not spot data will be properly checked before masts are proposed and plans are made public.

Edward Vaizey: The not spot data is collated and held by Ofcom and has been updated for 2014 with information from the mobile network operators. In areas where coverage is thought to be marginal, or there is uncertainty over coverage, DCMS officials have commissioned on the ground drive testing to assess the level of coverage.

Mobile Phones

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport whether any masts proposed as part of the Mobile Infrastructure Project other than that at Fownhope have been withdrawn after a reassessment of notspot data.

Edward Vaizey: DCMS officials and Arqiva, delivery partner for the Mobile Infrastructure Project, are incorporating changes in the notspot data into the project's planning. Once this planning is finalised any changes will be communicated to planning authorities.

Mobile Phones

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what the criteria are by which Arqiva assesses notspot data.

Edward Vaizey: Notspot data is compiled and held by Ofcom, with information provided by the Mobile Network operators. In areas where coverage is thought to be marginal, or-there is uncertainty over coverage, DCMS officials have commissioned drive testing to check the level of coverage.

Mobile Phones: Herefordshire

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what steps he plans to take to ensure that the people have adequate mobile signal coverage in light of the decision not to proceed with a mast at Fownhope.

Edward Vaizey: The Mobile Infrastructure Project can intervene in areas where there is no mobile coverage from any operator, and where the cost of the build of a mast considered alongside the numbers of premises that would benefit from the additional coverage provides value for money. Recent changes in coverage provided by the private sector have proved beneficial to Fownhope, but unfortunately this means that the Mobile Infrastructure Project can no longer go forward with plans for a mast.
	The Mobile Infrastructure Project can only intervene in areas where there is no coverage from any operator, and where an intervention achieves good value for money for the taxpayer. Government is looking at what else can be done to extend coverage.

Mobile Phones: Herefordshire

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what progress has been made on the Mobile Infrastructure Project in Herefordshire.

Edward Vaizey: Work has been ongoing in Herefordshire to search for appropriate locations for potential masts, and for each mast to: come to an agreement with a landlord, find an option to transmit signal back into the existing mobile networks, and ensure that the mast can be connected to a source of electricity.

Mobile Phones: Herefordshire

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport whether the Mobile Infrastructure Project in Herefordshire is on course to be delivered on schedule.

Edward Vaizey: The Mobile Infrastructure Project has faced challenges in finding ways to connect signal from masts back into the existing networks, and DCMS officials are assessing the impact of these challenges on overall progress and schedules.

Press

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport pursuant to the answer of 10 June 2014, Official Report, columns 67-8W, on the press, whether he has set a date for meeting victims of press abuse and their representatives.

Edward Vaizey: These arrangements are currently being finalised.

Sports: Public Participation

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what estimate he has made of the budget to encourage people in to non-professional sport in (a) Barnsley, (b) South Yorkshire and (c) England. [R]

Helen Grant: Sport England does not allocate its budget on a geographical basis. It is investing £1 billion in grassroots sport in England between 2012-17. About half of this, £493 million, is being invested in national governing of bodies of sport which work in all regions of England. Sport England also awards grants directly to sports clubs and projects through a range of specific funds according to the strength of applications received and evidence of local need. Sport England works proactively to identify areas which require greater investment and links with local stakeholders to make this happen wherever possible.
	While it is not possible to identify a budget for a particular area per se, it is possible to give the total value of National Lottery awards made by Sport England directly to sports clubs, projects and local authorities in a given area.
	Since 2010, projects in Barnsley have been awarded £700,988 and, for South Yorkshire, the figure is £8,755,741.

Electoral Register: British Nationals Abroad

Christopher Chope: To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, what recent estimate the Electoral Commission has made of the number of British citizens registered as overseas voters and the number of such citizens eligible for registration.

Gary Streeter: Every British citizen who has been registered to vote in the UK within the last 15 years is eligible to vote in UK parliamentary (general) elections and European parliamentary elections.
	The Electoral Commission informs me that the most recent figure showed that there were 15,848 registered overseas voters on the UK electoral registers.
	The most recent estimates of the total number of UK citizens living abroad are of 5.5 million (The Institute for Public Policy Research in 2006) and 4.7 million (The World Bank in 2010). However, it is not possible from this data to establish how many citizens living abroad were registered to vote in the UK within the last 15 years and are therefore eligible to vote from abroad. Even in the absence of a reliable estimate, it is nonetheless clear that the number of UK citizens living abroad who are eligible to register to vote is considerably more than those currently registered.
	The Commission runs public awareness campaigns to encourage British expatriates to register to vote; the most recent took place ahead of the European elections this year.

Alcoholic Drinks: Misuse

Kelvin Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  what criteria were used to select members of the project advisory board for the National Union of Students Alcohol Impact initiative;
	(2)  who the members of the project advisory board for the National Union of Students Alcohol Impact initiative are.

Norman Baker: The Advisory Board is a strategic sounding board for the Alcohol Impact pilot, providing NUS with advice to enable it to:
	maximise the impact and success of the pilot;
	identify, and react to, strategic barriers and opportunities in the short, medium and long-term;
	identify, and develop, influential and effective strategic partnerships for the Programme;
	develop a strong legacy plan beyond the pilot.
	Representatives for the board were selected by the NUS, in consultation with the Home Office, to provide a cross-section of groups who have expertise in a project that combines alcohol and the night-time economy, crime, higher education and community interests.
	In addition to officials from the NUS and Home Office, 19 external advisors form the NUS Alcohol Impact Advisory Board.
	They are representatives of:
	Association of Managers of Student Services in Higher Education
	Association of University Directors of Estates
	Addaction
	Portman Group
	Association of Town and City Management
	British Universities and Colleges Sport
	Research and Analysis
	Leeds University Union
	Universities UK
	Best Bar None
	GuildHE
	Newcastle University
	Northamptonshire Police
	Association of Licensed Multiple Retailers
	Greater Manchester Police
	British Beer and Pub Association
	Public Health England
	Best Bar None

Crime: LGBT People

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps she is taking to reduce homophobic and transphobic hate crimes against LGBT people.

Norman Baker: Tackling all forms of hate crime, including that motivated by hatred of a person’s sexual orientation or transgender identity is an issue the coalition Government takes very seriously.
	On 1 May 2014 we published 'Challenge it, Report it, Stop it—Delivering the Government’s Hate Crime Action Plan'. This progress report provides an overview of our achievements since the action plan was first published in March 2012 and sets out our key priorities for the remainder of this Parliament. A specific action in the plan includes tackling homophobia and transphobia in sports.
	We are meeting the coalition commitment to improve the recording of hate crimes motivated by sexual orientation and transgender identity and are working with the police and other partners to encourage more victims to come forward. We have supported voluntary sector organisations to develop third party reporting services for LGBT victims.

Driving under Influence

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many drink-driving offences were recorded in (a) Bury St Edmunds, (b) Suffolk and (c) England and Wales in each of the last five years; and how many successful prosecutions for such offences there have been.

Norman Baker: Drink driving is a summary offence, and not a notifiable offence. The Home Office only collects data on notifiable offences.
	The number of defendants proceeded against at magistrates’ courts and found guilty at all courts for offences relating to drink driving, in England and Wales from 2009 to 2013 can be viewed in Table 1. The same data for Suffolk can be viewed in Table 2. This data is held by the Ministry of Justice.
	Data is not available below Police Force Area level, and so data for Bury St Edmunds cannot be provided.
	
		
			 Defendants proceeded against at magistrate courts and found guilty at all courts for drink-driving offences1, England and Wales, 2009 to 20132,3 
			 Outcome 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 
			 Proceeded against 70,893 55,404 52,174 52,568 50,263 
			 Found guilty 68,335 53,305 50,320 50,192 47,844 
			 1 Includes the following offences under the Road Traffic Act 1988: Driving or attempting to drive a mechanically propelled vehicle while unfit to drive through drink or drugs—drink; Being in charge of mechanically propelled vehicle while unfit to drive through drink or drugs—Drink; Driving or attempting to drive a motor vehicle while having a breath, blood or urine alcohol concentration in excess of the prescribed limit; In charge of a motor vehicle while having a breath, blood or urine alcohol concentration in excess of the prescribed limit; Failing without reasonable excuse to provide a specimen of breath for a preliminary test; Driving or attempting to drive a motor vehicle and failing to without a reasonable excuse provide a specimen for a laboratory test or two specimens for analysis of breath; In charge of a motor vehicle and failing without reasonable excuse to provide a specimen for a laboratory test or two specimens for analysis of breath; Failing to allow specimen of blood to be subjected to laboratory test: (a) driving or attempting to drive, (b) all other cases. 2 The figures given in the table relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences it is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe. 3 Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. Source: Justice Statistics Analytical Services—Ministry of Justice

Sexual Offences: Registration

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people who were convicted of a sexual offence have been prosecuted for having failed to notify their personal details to the police in the last 10 years.

Norman Baker: Figures for the number of registered sex offenders who were either cautioned or convicted for breaches of their notification requirement in England and Wales are contained in the Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA) Annual Report, published by the Ministry of Justice. The MAPPA reports for 2009-13 may be found on the
	www.gov.uk
	website. Reports published prior to 2009 may be found on the national archives website.
	Management of sex offenders is a devolved matter, so the figures do not include Northern Ireland.

Stop and Search: Essex

Douglas Carswell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representations she received from the Essex Police and crime commissioner on changes to guidelines for police stop and search.

Damian Green: Essex police have acknowledged receipt of the Secretary of State for the Home Department’s letter sent to chief constables on 30 April and have advised that they will submit a formal response in due course.

Constituencies: Lancashire

Ben Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if he will take steps to review the boundaries of the county of Lancashire.

Brandon Lewis: It is not possible to make changes to county areas other than as a consequence of local government structural or boundary changes recommended by the independent Local Government Boundary Commission for England. We have no intention of seeking such change. We are however keen to recognise and acknowledge the continuing role of England’s traditional counties in the public and cultural life of the nation and the Government has sought to encourage the marking and continued use of traditional county names and areas irrespective of current tiers of local administration.

Fire Services: Pensions

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  when he next plans to meet the Fire Brigades Union to discuss the pensions dispute;
	(2)  what plans he has to make a new offer to the Fire Brigades Union based on the costings by the Government Actuary's Department.

Brandon Lewis: I have regular meetings with the Fire Brigades Union. The most recent request for a meeting has come from Matt Wrack, the General Secretary of the Fire Brigades Union, and is dated 20 June. I am content to agree to this request as long as the Union is not in a period of strike action.
	Earlier this year I agreed that the Government Actuary’s Department could cost alternative pension scheme designs that the Union had proposed. After constructive discussions, I wrote to the General Secretary on 23 April 2014 stating that their proposals were under consideration. The following day, the Union prematurely called a halt to those discussions by announcing strike action. I have since published draft regulations for consultation to implement the Proposed Final Agreement which was published in May 2012. I would encourage the Union to engage in that formal statutory consultation process which can be found at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/consultation-on-the-regulations-to-introduce-a-new-firefighters-pension-scheme-from-april-2015

Fire Services: Pensions

David Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Bristol North West, Official Report, column 152W, on fire services: pensions, if he will publish outstanding information requested by the Fire Brigades Union.

Brandon Lewis: On 12 June I published all of the costings that the Fire Brigades Union requested the Government Actuary’s Department to undertake on their behalf. The costings and related communications can be found at the following link:
	www.gov.uk/government/publications/firefighters-pension-schemereforms
	I also placed copies in the Library of the House.

Planning

Stephen McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what guidance his Department has issued to local authorities on their obligations to take action against breaches of planning law.

Nicholas Boles: Paragraph 207 of the National Planning Policy Framework sets out the policy for enforcement, and can be found at the following link:
	http://planningguidance.planningportal.gov.uk/blog/policy/achieving-sustainable-development/decision-taking/
	The new planning guidance has a section entitled “Ensuring effective enforcement”, which can be found at the following link:
	http://planningguidance.planningportal.gov.uk/blog/guidance/ensuring-effective-enforcement/
	Also in August 2013 we published guidance for local authorities on dealing with illegal and unauthorised encampments, which can be found at the following link:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dealing-with-illegal-and-unauthorised-encampments-a-summary-of-available-powers

Planning

David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what recent steps he has taken to speed up the planning system.

Nicholas Boles: We have reformed the planning system to make it simpler, more positive and faster to navigate. We have abolished top down regional planning and increased the types of development that benefit from permitted development rights. Where planning permission is required, we have stripped away unnecessary information requirements while retaining essential safeguards. The National Planning Policy Framework, and our recently published simplified planning guidance, provides a significantly clearer basis for making decisions than the confusing array of sometimes contradictory policy that we inherited; and we have taken steps to tackle under-performance by planning authorities where this occurs.
	The latest statistics show that these steps are having a significant impact. For example, district level planning authorities between January and March 2014 granted 76% of major applications on time compared with 60% in the same quarter in 2013.

Right to Buy Scheme

Graham Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  what steps his Department is taking to monitor the effect of the Preserved Right to Buy on the number of affordable homes;
	(2)  how many homes have been sold to date through the Preserved Right to Buy; what steps his Department takes to ensure such homes can be replaced; and how many homes sold under Preserved Right to Buy have been replaced to date.

Kris Hopkins: This Government wants to ensure that as many social tenants as possible are helped to achieve their home ownership aspirations. The preserved right to buy ensures that social tenants who were living in their homes at the time of a stock transfer maintain their important right to home ownership. Figures for preserved right to buy sales are collected by the Department on an annual basis. In the first year of the reinvigorated scheme (2012-13), there were 2,458 preserved right to buy sales. Sales data for previous years (table 648) can be found at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-social-housing-sales
	As housing associations are independent organisations, and stock transfer agreements are private commercial contracts, we do not mandate what they do with receipts they receive from preserved right to buy sales. It is the Department’s expectation that these receipts should be used to help fund new homes for affordable rent, and we would encourage housing associations to work in partnership with local authorities, and use other sources of cross-subsidy, to help achieve this.
	For future stock transfers, my Department has recently published a Stock Transfer Manual which sets out our intention to require that, for transfers completing after 30 September 2014, net proceeds from preserved right to buy sales are, within three years, used to fund new affordable housing at no greater subsidy cost than under the main affordable homes programme.

Right to Buy Scheme

Graham Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what changes have been made to the Preserved Right to Buy since May 2010; and what consultation processes have accompanied such changes.

Kris Hopkins: Helping people to achieve their home ownership aspirations is a central part of the Government’s housing strategy. This is why the Government reinvigorated the right to buy and, by extension, the preserved right to buy, increasing the maximum cash caps to £75,000 in April 2012. At the same time, the Government committed to keeping the discounts under review to ensure they remain effective.
	To reflect the unique nature of the housing market in London, the maximum cash cap for London was increased to £100,000 in March 2013. As part of keeping the discounts under review, the Government is currently legislating to increase annually the maximum cash cap by the consumer price index, and to bring the maximum percentage discount available for houses up, from 60% to 70%, to the same level as that available for flats. We are also legislating, via the Deregulation Bill, to decrease the qualifying eligibility period from five years to three years, bringing it in line with the policy’s original intentions.
	My Department consulted widely on changes to the right to buy prior to the reinvigoration of the scheme in April 2012. We have held roundtable meetings with key partners, such as the National Housing Federation, the Local Government Association and individual local authorities, on the further changes outlined above.

Computer Software

Thomas Docherty: To ask the hon. Member for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross representing the House of Commons Commission, what estimate he has made of the cost to date of introducing Office 365; what the final cost of introducing Office 365 is expected to be; and what feedback on the installation has been received so far from (a) hon. Members and (b) House staff.

John Thurso: The costs of the Microsoft 365 project to September 2014 are:
	2013-14—£355,667
	2014-15—£144,333
	The net savings made as a result of this project for 2014 to 2020 are:
	
		
			 Savings (thousand) 
			  2013-141 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 2017-18 2018-19 2019-20 Total 
			 Revenue—Staff 0 191 191 191 191 191 191 1,146 
			 Revenue—Other -33 22 232 282 293 292 295 1,381 
			 Total -33 213 423 473 483 483 486 2,527 
			 1 The negative figure for 2013-14 reflects the start-up cost of the project. 
		
	
	Office 2013 is the latest versions of Word, Excel, and Outlook. Microsoft 365 is Microsoft’s cloud hosted version of these tools, together with some new tools accessible once a user’s e-mail box has been migrated to Microsoft 365.
	The Microsoft 365 project has provided all users with the upgraded version of the Office 2013 suite. 90% of Members and their staff have upgraded their machines to Office 2013. As part of the pilot of Microsoft 365, 12 Members and their staff have had their mailboxes migrated to Microsoft 365. The remaining Members and their staff e-mail boxes will be migrated to Microsoft 365 in June and July 2014. All House staff have completed both of these steps.
	The general feedback from Members and their staff has been that the new product is similar to Office 2007, with some people liking the new features. We have received some negative feedback about the colour scheme of Outlook 2013 and about the new location of file/print/save buttons in Office 2013; similar feedback was received from House staff. In response PICT have produced guidance for staff on how to darken the colour scheme in Outlook and have been assured by Microsoft that they are working to address the interface issues in future upgrades.
	There were some difficulties reported by people upgrading their Office 2013 remotely. This was due to the slow download of security updates for users with poor broadband connections.
	The Members and their staff taking part in the pilots of Microsoft 365 have given positive feedback on the communications, support materials and service provided by PICT. As part of the migration Members have to reconnect their mobile devices to the new service and this has caused some difficulty for Blackberry users.
	The migration of House staff to Microsoft 365 overlapped with unrelated network failures in January–February 2014, which affected perception of the product. Feedback from those migrated after the network was stabilised was much more positive. We have recently initiated 30 pilots of the wider suite of tools in Microsoft 365, and we have received positive feedback from these pilots, with users requesting to keep the new tools.

Parliament: WiFi

Michael Fabricant: To ask the hon. Member for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross representing the House of Commons Commission, whether the Commission plans to modify the Parliamentary wifi system to enable automatic log-in by BlackBerry and other devices without the need to enter a username and password manually each time.

John Thurso: There are no immediate plans to change the current method of connection. PICT is aware of the restriction that the current arrangement places on users, and will look afresh at the authentication needed for known users of the guest wi-fi service, “Internet Direct”.

Parliamentary Information and Communications Technology Service

Thomas Docherty: To ask the hon. Member for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross representing the House of Commons Commission, which contractors have been hired by PICT during the current financial year; and which such contractors have had their contracts terminated due to poor performance. [Official Report, 26 June 2014, Vol. 583, c. 3-4MC.]

John Thurso: So far during the financial year 2014-15 PICT has employed 57 contractors, of whom 14 have been supporting services for Members. Further details cannot be provided without identifying individuals. Many are on short term contracts. None has had a contract terminated early.

Beef: Imports

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what quantity and value of beef was imported to the UK from each importing country in the last year.

George Eustice: The following table provides details of UK imports of beef and veal as recorded in the Official Overseas Trade Statistics for the period May 2013 to April 2014. This is the latest available data.
	
		
			  May 2013-April 2014 
			 Country of dispatch Quantity (thousand tonnes) Value (£ million) 
			 Irish Republic 168 629 
			 Netherlands 15 56 
			 Germany 9 29 
			 Poland 8 30 
			 Australia 8 49 
			 Namibia 6 24 
		
	
	
		
			 Brazil 5 20 
			 Uruguay 4 22 
			 Spain 2 8 
			 New Zealand 4 17 
			 Botswana 5 16 
			 Italy 3 16 
			 France 3 9 
			 Denmark 2 8 
			 Belgium 2 10 
			 Austria 1 5 
			 Argentina <0.5 1 
			 Chile <0.5 <0.5 
			 U.S.A. <0.5 <0.5 
			 Hungary <0.5 <0.5 
			 Portugal <0.5 <0.5 
			 Switzerland <0.5 <0.5 
			 Nauru <0.5 <0.5 
			 Greece <0.5 <0.5 
			 Beef and veal imports total 246 949 
			 Source: HM Revenue and Customs 2013 and 2014 Data is subject to amendments

Birds of Prey

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many red kites there are in the UK; and whether his Department has set a population number above which it will take steps to control that population.

George Eustice: The most recent estimate of red kites in the UK is 1,600 breeding pairs (as recorded by both the British Trust for Ornithology and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds in 2013).
	The Government has no plans to control red kites.

Bovine Tuberculosis

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment he has made of the accuracy of TB tests for Alpacas; and if he will make a statement.

George Eustice: The Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratories Agency undertook research sponsored by the British Alpaca Society, the British Llama Society and British Camelids Ltd to validate ante mortem TB tests in camelids. Their report was delivered to the sponsors in 2012 and a copy can be found at:
	http://www.llama.co.uk/resources/Validation_of_ante_mortem_TB_tests_in_Camelids.pdf
	The outcome of that research formed the basis of DEFRA’s proposals for combined skin and blood TB testing of camelids on which we consulted in April this year. They can be found at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/bovine-tb-disease-controls-for-deer-and-camelids

Forests: Christchurch

Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what environmental impact assessment the Forestry Commission has carried out in respect of the proposed corridor up to 65 metres wide through Hurn Forest for cables connecting Navitus Bay Offshore windfarm with the national grid.

Dan Rogerson: The Forestry Commission is fully committed to protecting and improving the nation's public forests for the benefit of people, nature and the economy. It is not required to carry out a formal environmental impact assessment in this case but it has considered the potential impact of the cable route and is working with the developer to ensure that the impact is minimised. Any woodland that is lost will be restored to heathland to improve the diversity of habitat, as well as opening the views and improving public access.

Mangoes: India

Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent meetings his Department has had with representatives of (a) the Federation of Indian Export Organisations, (b) National Asian Business Association and (c) other representative organisations or affected businesses to discuss (i) the EU ban on importation of mangoes from India, (ii) any alternatives to a ban and (iii) measures to mitigate the effect of such a ban on UK importers, distributors, retailers and restaurateurs.

Dan Rogerson: Lord de Mauley chaired a roundtable discussion on 21 May with the National Asian Business Association, the Fresh Produce Consortium and the Indian High Commission to discuss the implications of the European Union (EU) ban on mangoes from India and what help the UK might be able to offer India to comply with EU import requirements. DEFRA officials have also met these bodies and other trade representatives to discuss the issue.

Mangoes: India

Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  what his policy is on the recent EU ban on Indian mangoes;
	(2)  what proportion of mango lots or number of shipments infested by tephriditae were rejected by Fera in each of the last five years; and from which source country each infected shipment was exported;
	(3)  which countries possess comparative levels of fruit fly infestation in exported mangoes and are not subject to an EU ban on importation;
	(4)  whether any alternatives to a full ban on the importation of Indian mangoes were (a) considered by his Department's officials and (b) put forward to European Commissioners.

Dan Rogerson: The ban was imposed following persistent interceptions of plant pests on imports of Indian produce into the European Union (EU) and critical reports from the European Commission’s Food and Veterinary Office audits in 2010 and 2013. Despite assurances from India in response to these reports the level of interceptions remained high. The EU’s decision to introduce a ban was therefore fully justified and supported by all member states including the UK, in line with our policy of strengthening plant health controls. Therefore, no alternatives to a ban were considered by DEFRA.
	Protecting plant health is a key DEFRA objective. Plant pests and diseases such as those intercepted from India in recent years can cause serious damage to the UK glasshouse industry which is worth over £300 million per annum. However, I am aware of the importance of the mango trade and DEFRA officials are liaising with the Indian high commission on what support the UK can offer to India to help it ensure compliance with EU import requirements.
	The following table shows the number of consignments of mangoes imported into the UK in the last five years which were infested with Tephriditae (and therefore rejected) by country of origin. The European Commission is considering similar measures to those taken against India for other countries with high levels of interceptions of plant pests. Such consideration takes account of findings from all member states, and covers all plant commodities and all pests identified.
	
		
			  Country of origin Number of consignments imported into the UK Number of consignments infected with Tephritidae 
			 2010 Dominican Republic 351 1 
			  India 1,977 1 
			  Jamaica 228 3 
			  Pakistan 3,302 6 
			     
			 2011 Dominican Republic 417 2 
			  India 1,836 11 
			  Jamaica 262 3 
			  Pakistan 3,690 19 
			  Puerto Rico 1 1 
			  Sri Lanka 144 1 
			  Uganda 138 1 
			     
			 2012 Bangladesh 146 1 
			  Brazil 445 1 
			  Costa Rica 70 2 
		
	
	
		
			  Dominican Republic 606 18 
			  Ghana 628 15 
			  India 3,448 23 
			  Jamaica 332 24 
			  Kenya 2,044 4 
			  Pakistan 5,128 81 
			  Philippines 12 2 
			  Sri Lanka 189 10 
			  St Lucia 50 1 
			  Thailand 1,050 3 
			  Uganda 104 2 
			     
			 2013 Brazil 316 3 
			  Dominican Republic 756 16 
			  Ghana 357 4 
			  Guinea 7 1 
			  India 3,563 13 
			  Jamaica 516 17 
			  Kenya 1,654 17 
			  Pakistan 5,910 47 
			  Puerto Rico 104 1 
			  Sri Lanka 111 3 
			  UAE 1 1 
			  Vietnam 77 1 
			     
			 2014 (to 18 June 2014)    
			  Brazil 106 1 
			  Dominican Republic 420 3 
			  Ghana 271 1 
			  India 401 1 
			  Jamaica 464 9 
			  Kenya 698 7 
			  Mexico 61 1 
			  Senegal 4 1 
			  Sri Lanka 69 3 
			 Source: Fera and Europhyt

Members: Correspondence

David Winnick: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will issue guidance to the West Midlands Waterways, Canal and River Trust and other similar trusts that replies to hon. Members who have written on behalf of their constituents should be signed.

Dan Rogerson: As independent charities, handling correspondence is entirely a matter for the Canal and River Trust and other similar trusts. However, I have asked my officials to draw this issue to the attention of the Trust at their next meeting.

Plastic Bags: Taxation

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate he has made of the annual income from the carrier bag levy in the four years from October 2015.

Dan Rogerson: The estimated gross revenue from the charge in England is set out in the following table:
	
		
			 £ million 
			 Calendar year 2015 2016 2017 2018 
			 Revenue 22.1 110.5 112 113.5 
		
	
	The Government expects retailers covered by the charge to deduct reasonable costs from the revenue raised and use the remaining part for good causes. VAT will be included in the 5p charge.
	No profits generated from this charge goes to the Government.

School Choice

Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what recent estimate he has made of the number of school-age children living in areas where the only state schools within reasonable travelling distance are faith schools.

David Laws: We have made no such estimate. Local authorities have responsibility for securing sufficient school places to meet the needs of their local communities and have the statutory duties and powers to support that. They must also ensure that the balance of different types of provision meets local demand and that they make suitable transport arrangements for eligible pupils.
	The Government does recognise the need to ensure that new provision meets the needs of the whole community. New academies and free schools with a religious designation may only prioritise up to 50% of pupils on the basis of faith-related admissions criteria.

China

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what discussions he had on nuclear power with (a) his Chinese counterpart and (b) other members of the delegation of the Chinese prime minister during their visit to the UK in June; what matters were agreed; and if he will publish texts of any such agreements reached.

Michael Fallon: The Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, the right hon. Member for Kingston and Surbiton (Mr Davey), met with Premier Li and various Chinese companies to discuss areas of ongoing cooperation within the nuclear power sector. During these discussions the UK and Chinese Governments signalled a deepening of their partnership on civil nuclear energy through the signing of a joint statement on civil nuclear power.
	Alongside this, HMG have signed a Four Party Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Civil Nuclear Fuel Cycle Supply Chain with the INS, CNNC and CAEA to further cooperation across the civil nuclear backend fuel cycle, creating potential commercial opportunities for UK companies.
	Both countries see the importance of working together on the UK’s nuclear new build programme, China’s own domestic civil nuclear programme and in third country markets, to maximise the billion pound opportunities this presents for both UK and Chinese companies.
	Both the joint statement and Four Party MoU are published on our website at
	https://www.gov.uk/government/news/multimillion-boost-to-uk-economy-as-china-and-uk-government-sign-civil-nuclear-agreement-and-sign-agreement-to-deepen-cooperation-on-climate-change

Energy: Meters

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what estimate he has made of the number of households with prepayment meters in each (a) parliamentary constituency and (b) local authority in each year between 1996 and 2014.

Gregory Barker: Data is not available to the Department on the number of households with prepayment meters at the parliamentary constituency or local authority level.
	Statistics are produced on a quarterly basis which show the proportion of households on prepayment tariffs by public electricity supply (PES) region. These are made available through the DECC publication Quarterly Energy Prices, in tables 242 (electricity) and 252 (gas), which can be found online at the following link:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/quarterly-domestic-energy-price-stastics

Fuel Poverty

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change 
	(1)  what estimate his Department has made of the number of households in fuel poverty in each (a) parliamentary constituency and (b) local authority in each year between 1996 and 2012;
	(2)  what forecast his Department has made of the number of households in fuel poverty in each (a) parliamentary constituency and (b) local authority in (i) 2013 and (ii) 2014.

Gregory Barker: The estimated number and proportion of households which are fuel poor for 2011 and 2012 under the Low Income High Costs (LIHC) Indicator in each (a) parliamentary constituency and (b) local authority is available at the following link:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/fuel-poverty-sub-regional-statistics
	The link above also provides sub-regional estimates of fuel poverty for the 10% indicator for the years 2010, 2011 and 2012. Estimates for 2006, 2008 and 2009 under the 10% indicator are available from the fuel poverty statistics archive page:
	http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20130109092117/http:/decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/statistics/fuelpov_stats/archive/archive.aspx

Green Deal Scheme

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how much funding his Department has allocated to the Green Deal Home Improvement Fund for the lifetime of the programme.

Gregory Barker: Up to £120 million has been allocated to the Green Deal Home Improvement Fund in 2014-15. A decision on allocating funding for future years has yet to be taken. In the 2013 autumn statement, 5 December 2013, OfficialReport, columns 1101-1113, £150 million was allocated in each of 2015-16 and 2016-17 towards energy efficiency in homes.

Land Use

Nicholas Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what recent representations he has received from industry on the effect of the use of land management measures on performance and productivity.

Michael Fallon: The Secretary of State has not received any recent direct representations from industry regarding the effect of load management on performance and industry.
	National Grid recently announced two new balancing services to balance supply and demand in the coming winters. One of these, Demand Side Balancing Reserve (DSBR), will extend existing arrangements for companies to receive payment to reduce their electricity use or switch to on-site generators for short periods when instructed by National Grid.

Liquefied Petroleum Gas

Geoffrey Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what consumer protection is available for users of metered LPG users; and if he will make a statement.

Gregory Barker: The supply of LPG is subject to UK competition law under the Competition and Markets Authority.
	The study by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) into the off-grid energy market, published in October 2011, found that there is a generally positive initial impact of the Competition Commission (CC) Orders from 2009 to make it easier for consumers to switch liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) supplier.
	In April 2012, the OFT also secured voluntary agreements from the major LPG suppliers to make changes to their domestic bulk customer contracts and improve transparency around switching and cancellation rights. These changes apply for both individual tank and metered estate customers.
	The Competition and Markets Authority will continue to keep the Orders under review.

Private Rented Housing: Energy

Alan Whitehead: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change when his Department will start a public consultation on the regulations on minimum standards of efficiency in the private rental sector and section 43 of the Energy Act 2011.

Gregory Barker: The Government is committed to a public consultation on the regulations on minimum standards of efficiency in the private rental sector. The Government expects to begin consultation shortly.

Government Departments: Procurement

Graeme Morrice: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what steps he is taking to prevent employers who engage in blacklisting receiving Government contracts.

Nick Hurd: The blacklisting of employees is an unacceptable and unlawful practice, and Government takes any such allegations very seriously.

Driving

James Duddridge: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport 
	(1)  what recent discussions his Department has had with the insurance industry on the behaviour and attitudes of novice drivers;
	(2)  what recent representations he has received about deaths of young people in traffic accidents; and if he will make a statement;
	(3)  if he will publish (a) details and (b) results of focus groups with parents, young people and employers about the behaviour and attitudes of novice drivers.

Robert Goodwill: The number of young people being killed on our roads is far too high and we are determined to tackle this issue. It is an issue which, understandably, features prominently in the range of representations which we receive about road safety generally.
	As part of our consideration of the way forward, we met the insurance industry on 27 January 2014 to discuss novice drivers and, in particular, our proposed research into the role which telematics can play in changing the behaviours and attitudes of new drivers. My officials regularly talk to the insurance industry and current discussions are aimed at encouraging participation in the research project before we can get it under way. We will publish the results of the research when they are available.
	We will also publish the findings of the focus groups comprising parents, young people and employers which we undertook in order to get a better understanding of the issues from their perspective.

Ambulance Services: Bolton

David Crausby: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average ambulance response time for each category of call was in Bolton in each year since 2010.

Jane Ellison: The information is not available in the format requested. Such information as is available is shown in the table.
	The median response times to treatment for category A1 calls in the North West Ambulance Service NHS Trust2, April 20113 to April 2014
	1 Category A calls are defined as those that are the result of immediately life threatening incidents.
	2 North West Ambulance Service NHS Trust provides services to the Bolton area. Ambulance response times are not readily available for areas smaller than those covered by one Ambulance Trust.
	3 Information is not available before April 2011.
	
		
			 Month Median time (in minutes) 
			 April 2011 4.2 
			 May 2011 5.0 
			 June 2011 5.2 
			 July 2011 5.0 
			 August 2011 4.7 
			 September 2011 4.8 
			 October 2011 4.9 
			 November 2011 4.9 
			 December 2011 5.0 
			 January 2012 4.8 
			 February 2012 5.1 
			 March 2012 5.0 
		
	
	
		
			 April 2012 5.6 
			 May 2012 5.7 
			 June 2012 5.1 
			 July 2012 5.1 
			 August 2012 5.2 
			 September 2012 5.3 
			 October 2012 5.4 
			 November 2012 5.4 
			 December 2012 5.7 
			 January 2013 5.5 
			 February 2013 5.6 
			 March 2013 5.6 
			 April 2013 5.8 
			 May 2013 5.4 
			 June 2013 5.5 
			 July 2013 5.8 
			 August 2013 5.7 
			 September 2013 6.1 
			 October 2013 6.0 
			 November 2013 6.1 
			 December 2013 6.1 
			 January 2014 5.8 
			 February 2014 6.1 
			 March 2014 6.1 
			 April 2014 6.1 
			 Source: Ambulance quality indicators, NHS England

Cancer

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  how much in real-terms was spent on cancer services in each of the last five years;
	(2)  how much and what proportion of national cancer spend was spent on radiotherapy in each of the last five years.

Jane Ellison: The information is shown in the following table:
	
		
			 Estimated expenditure on cancer services and radiotherapy, 2008-09 to 2012-13 
			 £ million (in 2012-13 prices) 
			  Cancers and tumours Radiotherapy 
			 2008-09 5,281 401 
			 2009-10 5,908 435 
			 2010-11 5,685 467 
			 2011-12 5,565 473 
			 2012-13 5,681 485 
			 Sources: 1. Programme budgeting data, NHS England 2. Reference costs, Department of Health 
		
	
	It is not appropriate for a given service to present reference costs as a proportion of programme budgeting expenditure. This is because radiotherapy data are calculated from reference costs, which are the unit costs to national health service trusts and NHS foundation trusts of providing defined services in a given financial year to NHS patients. Reference costs do not represent all expenditure in the NHS, and are costs to NHS providers whereas programme budgeting data are expenditure by NHS commissioners.

Cystic Fibrosis

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what assessment his Department has made of the effect on health services of an increase in the number of adult patients with cystic fibrosis;
	(2)  how many people were living with cystic fibrosis in each of the last four years.

Norman Lamb: NHS England recognises that the number of adults with cystic fibrosis (CF) is gradually increasing over time. The growth in numbers is taken into account by NHS England as part of its annual commissioning process and will be considered in the ongoing development of its five-year specialised commissioning strategy.
	Information concerning the number of people living with CF in each of the last four years is not available. In the following table we have provided the number of CF patients (adults and children) cared for by specialist centres in England in each of the last three years. This data has only been collected since the introduction of the tariff for CF services in 2011.
	
		
			  Patients (number) 
			 2011 7,291 
			 2012 7,620 
			 2013 7,778 
		
	
	We would expect all CF patients to have a CF specialist in charge of their care and, as part of the ongoing support they receive, to be assessed at specialist centres.

Food Poisoning

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people were infected with bacillus cereus in each of the last five years.

Jane Ellison: The numbers of reported patient infection episodes of ‘Bacillus cereus’, isolated from blood samples from all age-groups between 2009 and 2013 in England, are shown in the following table.
	
		
			  Organism name Specimen type Country Number of patient infection episodes 
			 2009 Bacillus Cereus Blood England 50 
			 2010 Bacillus Cereus Blood England 46 
			 2011 Bacillus Cereus Blood England 39 
			 2012 Bacillus Cereus Blood England 37 
			 2013 Bacillus Cereus Blood England 56 
		
	
	These data were extracted from Public Health England’s centralised microbiology database (LabBase2), which collects voluntarily reported microbiology data from participating laboratories across England. Although only clinically significant isolates should be reported to LabBase2, some of the reports may be contaminants that occurred either during collection or during processing of samples as ‘B. cereus’ is a ubiquitous environmental organism.

Food Poisoning

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what steps the Minister is taking to prevent bacillus cereus infections in the UK;
	(2)  what discussions he has had with devolved regional assemblies to agree a strategy to prevent bacillus cereus infections;
	(3)  when he plans to publish the results of the investigation of the recent death of babies due to bacillus cereus.

Jane Ellison: Bacillus cereus is a spore forming bacterium found widely in the environment in dust, soil and vegetation. There is limited prevention as it is a naturally occurring bacterium. However, the Food Standards Agency has published advice on their website which details information on potential food poisoning caused by Bacillus cereus.
	The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) undertake inspections of manufacturing facilities with reference to the standards of Good Manufacturing Practice to verify that companies are producing medicines that are of the correct quality and safety. The manufacture of sterile products, such as Total Parental Nutrition, is subject to special requirements in order to minimise risks of bacterial contamination.
	In the case of medicines, the MHRA and Public Health England (PHE) are currently investigating what has caused the recent incident where Total Parental Nutrition became contaminated with Bacillus cereus. Based on the information we currently have, we believe this is an isolated incident and the appropriate immediate action has been taken to avoid a recurrence.
	The devolved Administrations have been informed of the current incident involving Bacillus cereus. The investigations into the cause of this incident are still ongoing. The Department will continue to discuss matters with the devolved Administrations for minimising Bacillus cereus infection.
	The investigations being undertaken by MHRA and PHE are in their advanced stages and preliminary findings will be published as soon as possible. While the MHRA and PHE are undertaking their own investigations, it would be normal practice for the coroner to report on the individual case he is currently considering.

Gastrointestinal System

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what his policy is on NHS patients receiving Enterra gastric stimulator treatment.

Jane Ellison: Funding of gastro-electrical stimulation procedures is a matter for local clinical commissioning groups (CCGs). If a clinician considers that a patient in their care may benefit from this procedure, they would need to submit an individual funding request to their CCG so that they can consider the case.
	In May 2014 the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) issued new Interventional Procedure (IP) guidance on gastro-electrical stimulation for gastroparesis, which is a chronic disorder in which the stomach empties more slowly than normal. The guidance can be found at the following link:
	www.nice.org.uk/nicemedia/live/14531/67802/67802.pdf
	NICE'S IP programme assesses the safety and efficacy of (mainly) new procedures that are used for diagnosis or treatment that involve incision, puncture, entry into a body cavity or the use of ionising, electromagnetic or acoustic energy. Unlike NICE'S technology appraisals programme, it is not within the remit of the IP programme to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of IPs or to advise the national health service on whether IPs should be funded.

Health Visitors

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what change there has been in the number of health visitors employed since the start of the Health Visitor Programme.

Daniel Poulter: The Government is committed to growing by April 2015, the health visitor work force and transforming health visiting services to improve health outcomes and reduce inequalities.
	The latest health visiting work force data1 (for February 2014) shows the total number of health visitors nationally is 10,267 full-time equivalents.
	There are 2,175 more health visitors compared to the May 2010 baseline of 8,092.
	1 Published on 21 May 2014 by the Health and Social Care Information Centre. The next data publication for March 2014 will be on 24 June 2014.

Health Visitors

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health with reference to the answer of 18 March 2014, Official Report, columns 571W, on health visitors, if his Department will make an assessment of the potential change in the number of health visitors working with children as a result of the transfer of funding for health visitors from the NHS to local authorities in 2015.

Daniel Poulter: The Department, NHS England, Public Health England and the Local Government Association are working closely together to develop a clear process to ensure the smooth and safe transfer of commissioning 0 to 5 years public health services, (including health visitor service), from the national health service to local authorities. In particular, the Department has established a Task and Finish Group to develop a comprehensive transfer plan comprising the key workstreams involved in the transfer.
	Health Education England (HEE), in its December 2013 publication, “Investing in People for Health and Healthcare: Workforce Plan for England Proposed Education and Training Commissions for 2014/15”, has set out its approach to training health visitors in the longer term, stating:
	“The job of HEE this year and in future years is to maintain the Health Visitor workforce at these new historically high levels.”
	At the national level, the Children’s Health and Wellbeing Partnership will provide national leadership on specific challenges, (such as the transition of the 0–5 service), by bringing together key national partners, so they can jointly contribute to ongoing improvement of outcomes for children and young people.

Kidneys: Diseases

Yasmin Qureshi: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps his Department is taking to raise awareness of kidney disease among the Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic community.

Jane Ellison: The Department is not currently undertaking any work to raise awareness of kidney disease among black, Asian and minority ethnic communities. However, local national health service organisations can undertake such campaigns should they wish to do so.
	The NHS Choices website contains detailed information on both black and Asian health issues which includes a page on the increased risk these ethnic groups have of developing kidney disease. The page can be viewed at the following link:
	www.nhs.uk/Livewell/Kidneyhealth/Pages/BlackandAsiankidneyhealth.aspx
	We are identifying kidney disease earlier through the NHS Health Check. This programme identifies those aged between 40 and 74 at risk of cardiovascular diseases and helps them to reduce that risk. We anticipate that up to 20,000 cases of kidney disease and diabetes (a contributing factor) could be prevented through the programme.

Kidneys: Donors

Yasmin Qureshi: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if his Department will assess the achievements of Kidney Research UK's Peer Educator model to support sign-up to the NHS Organ Donor Register in Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic communities; and if his Department will take steps to support rollout of Kidney Research UK's Peer Educator model across the UK.

Jane Ellison: The Department, as part of its support for the National Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) Transplant Alliance, is funding Kidney Research UK to run a Peer Educator Project to raise awareness of the lack of donors and increase the numbers on the organ and bone marrow/stem cell registers within the Pakistani Muslim community in Birmingham. Subject to parliamentary business, the project will be officially launched by the Public Health Minister on 26 June 2014 and will build upon the success of an earlier Department funded Peer Educator project. The project will be fully evaluated and further lessons learned will be used to inform the roll out of any future Peer Educator projects in other BAME locations across the country.

Ovarian Hyperstimulation Syndrome

Jim Dobbin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many women were admitted to hospital with ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome in each of the last five years for which figures are available; how many adverse incidents were recorded in licensed clinics in that period; and what the severity grading of each such incident was.

Jane Ellison: The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) has advised that the data it holds on these issues are as follows:
	
		
			  Total number of incidents reported Severity: Grade A Severity: Grade B Severity: Grade C Not an incident/near miss 
			 2009-10 497 7 308 146 36 
			 2010-11 586 1 292 255 38 
			 2011-12 571 3 206 308 54 
			 2012-13 503 0 183 261 59 
			 2013-14 506 4 203 255 44 
		
	
	Of these, the number of cases of Ovarian Hyperstimulation Syndrome (OHSS) reported to the authority is as follows:
	
		
			  Number of OHSS Moderate Severe 
			 2009-10 121 1 120 
			 2010-11 221 122 99 
			 2011-12 241 196 45 
			 2012-13 179 134 45 
			 2013-14 192 142 50 
		
	
	The HFEA has also advised that licensed fertility clinics are only required to report instances of OHSS to the authority that require a hospital admission with a severe grading, although in practice clinics often report moderate OHSS as well.

Prostate Cancer: Drugs

Simon Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Health for what reasons NICE has not recommended the treatment of abiraterone for use on the NHS; if he will place in the Library all correspondence NICE has received on the issue from (a) patient groups and (b) clinicians; and if he will make a statement.

Norman Lamb: The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published technology appraisal guidance in June 2012 which recommends abiraterone (Zytiga) in its licensed indication for the treatment of castration-resistant metastatic prostate cancer previously treated with a docetaxel-containing regimen, subject to a patient access scheme agreed between the Department and the drug’s manufacturer.
	NICE is currently appraising abiraterone for the treatment of metastatic hormone relapsed prostate cancer not previously treated with chemotherapy and has not yet published final guidance for the national health service. We understand that NICE has recently consulted on its draft guidance for this indication, which can be found at:
	http://guidance.nice.org.uk/TAG/434/Consultation/Latest
	NHS commissioners are legally required to fund those treatments recommended by NICE in its technology appraisal guidance.
	In the absence of NICE technology appraisal guidance it is for the relevant NHS commissioner to make funding decisions based on an assessment of the available evidence. The NHS Constitution states that patients have the right to expect local decisions on the funding of drugs and treatments 'to be made rationally following a proper consideration of the evidence'.
	We understand that abiraterone as a first-line treatment is available through the Cancer Drugs Fund to NHS patients in England who could benefit from it.
	We are unable to provide copies of the correspondence requested in the time available and this information will be placed in the Library in due course.

Shingles: Vaccination

Kelvin Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people in the 70 to 79 age group have received a shingles vaccination since the vaccination programme began in September 2013; how many people he expects to take up the offer in the current cohort; when he expects that figure to be met; and if he will make a statement.

Jane Ellison: Provisional vaccine uptake data for England show that about 360,000 70 to 79-year-olds received the shingles vaccine between 1 September 2013 and 30 April 2014. The actual number will be higher as about 20% of general practitioner (GP) practices are not able to automatically submit uptake information. If it is assumed that the non-reporting practices have similar uptake rates to those that have reported, then the estimated total number of people aged 70 to 79 years receiving the vaccine in the first eight months of the programme, would be around 450,000.
	This is the first year of this immunisation programme and there is no formal target for the number to be vaccinated. Eligible patients aged 70 and 79 who have not yet received shingles vaccine during the 2013-14 programme will continue to be offered vaccination under the national programme until 31 August 2014. It is not possible to predict how many will take up the offer of vaccination in this period, but Public Health England expects vaccine uptake to continue to rise, and we would encourage those eligible individuals to contact their GP to arrange their vaccination if they have not already done so.
	Further provisional cumulative coverage data will be published on a quarterly basis, with the final annual coverage data for the 2013-14 programme due to be published in autumn 2014.

Telephone Services

Valerie Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many telephone lines with the prefix (a) 0845, (b) 0844 and (c) 0843 his Department (i) operates and (ii) sponsors; how many calls each such number has received in the last 12 months; and whether alternative numbers charged at BT local rates are available in each such case.

Daniel Poulter: The Department does not operate any telephone lines with the prefix 0843. The Department has one telephone line with prefix 0845 and no calls were made to this number in the last 12 months. There is no alternative number charged at BT local rates available. This number is only used by the internal Emergency Planning, Resilience and Response Team and is not available to members of the public.
	The Department has two telephone lines with prefix 0844. 0844 892 0111 National Poisons Information Service and 0844 892 0909 UK Teratology Information Service. Both numbers are not in use for the general public. The number of calls made to these numbers in the last 12 months are 25,584 and 3,541 respectively. There are no alternative BT lines for these numbers.

Armed Forces: Mental Health Services

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  what steps his Department takes to help servicemen and women and veterans with psychological injuries; [R]
	(2)  what budget is available to help (a) active service personnel and (b) veterans with psychological injuries. [R]

Anna Soubry: We take the mental health of our personnel and veterans very seriously, and the Government has invested £7.4 million to improve the mental health services available and ensure help is available for everyone who needs it. The Government has implemented all of the recommendations of the 'Fighting Fit' report, written by the now Minister for International Security Strategy, the Under-Secretary of State for Defence, my hon. Friend the Member for South West Wiltshire (Dr Murrison). These include:
	structured mental health assessments at routine and discharge medicals;
	access to military Departments of Community Mental Health for six months after discharge;
	tailored NHS mental health services;
	funding for the Combat Stress 24 hour Mental Health Helpline; and
	the introduction of the Big White Wall, providing mental health well-being services to serving personnel, their families and veterans.
	The Veterans Information Service makes contact with recent service leavers to make them aware of mental health and other support available in the community.
	For serving personnel, the Defence Medical Services (DMS) have introduced a range of measures to identify issues at the earliest possible opportunity. These include pre and post-deployment briefing and the availability of support, assessment and (if required) treatment, both during and after deployments, as well as peer-group mentoring through trauma risk management. Away from deployed operations, our mental health services are configured to provide community-based mental health care in line with national best practice, through both unit-based primary health centres and our network of 16 military Departments of Community Mental Health across the UK (plus centres overseas). In-patient care, when required, is available through a contract with a group of eight specialist NHS trusts across the UK. The DMS does not allocate a specific budget for mental health care, but provides appropriate care and treatment for all those who require it.

Army Reserve

Vernon Coaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  what steps his Department takes to ensure that members of the Army Reserve who are injured receive appropriate support;
	(2)  what level of provision is available for injured members of the Army Reserve;
	(3)  what assessment he has made of the level and quality of post-operational support provided to injured members of the (a) Regulars and (b) Army Reserves.

Anna Soubry: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 16 June 2014, Official Report, column 364W, to the hon. Member for Stretford and Urmston (Kate Green).
	Reservists are treated exactly the same as regulars in terms of operational training and support while mobilised, including access to the same welfare support and medical treatment through the Defence Medical Services (DMS). They are retained in service and will receive treatment and rehabilitation until they are medically assessed as having reached a steady state of fitness, at which point they will be demobilised. If they have continuing health care needs following demobilisation, they will be taken through a transition from military to NHS care. Reservists who are medically discharged as a result of injuries sustained during deployment are also entitled to resettlement training and to the same range of services available to regular veterans. Where service is the only or main cause of injury or illness, members or former members of the reserve forces may qualify for awards under the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme (AFCS).
	The level and quality of post-operational support provided to injured mobilised reservists is exactly the same as that provided to regulars, with full access to all the facilities and expertise provided under the Army Recovery Capability, and it is a level of support of which the Army and the Ministry of Defence are extremely proud.
	Following the Reserves 2020 White Paper, which proposed improvements to occupational health provision to ensure consistent access to these services for all reservists, the MOD committed to extending DMS occupational health provision to non-mobilised reservists. Rehabilitation services are also being extended to members of the reserve forces who are injured during reserve training. This is in addition to the procedure in place since 2006, whereby reservists can obtain DMS mental health treatment through the Veterans and Reserves Mental Health Programme. Implementation of the new measures started in April 2014.

Army: Recruitment

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence for what reason his Department did not provide an ICT hosting environment for Capita on time for the Recruiting Partnering Project.

Anna Soubry: A number of factors contributed to the problems experienced with the Information Communication Technology hosting environment provided for Capita. I refer the hon. Member to the response from the Secretary of State for Defence, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), to an urgent question from the hon. Member for Gedling (Vernon Coaker), on 14 January 2014, Official Report, column 715.

Army: Recruitment

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the cost to the public purse to date is of the Recruiting and Partnering Project.

Anna Soubry: The cost of the Recruiting & Partnering Project to date (for the three years from March 2011 to 2014) is around £300 million. This figure includes the costs of the service provider, CAPITA and costs to the Ministry of Defence such as military and civilian manpower, information communication technology provision and infrastructure.

Army: Recruitment

Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what preliminary tests his Department conducted to assess whether it was feasible to recruit and train the required number of reserves within the necessary timescale envisaged by the Army 2020 proposals.

Anna Soubry: Following the Strategic Defence and Security Review, a three month exercise was undertaken which examined a range of force structure options which built upon analysis undertaken during the review. These options were then tested for their efficacy against a wide range of scenarios. The options were then assessed by a senior judgment panel, chaired by the Vice Chief of Defence Staff. Included in this panel were the Assistant Chiefs of Staff for the Royal Navy, Army and Royal Air Force. The panel took decisions collectively and all members were fully involved and consulted.
	In July 2011 an Independent Commission to Review the UK’s Reserve Forces, chaired by my hon. Friend the Member for Canterbury (Mr Brazier) and General Sir Nicholas Houghton, then set a target of 30,000 for a trained Army Reserve. This judgment was reached in the knowledge that the strength of the Territorial Army had been over 70,000 in the 1980s.
	Subsequent work was then undertaken to establish the timescales to build the trained strength of the Army Reserve to 30,000. This was set out in the Written Ministerial Statement and paper placed in the Library of the House by the Secretary of State for Defence, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond) on 19 December 2013, Official Report, column 124WS.

Defence: Expenditure

Bob Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether it remains his policy to meet the NATO target of spending 2 per cent of gross domestic product on defence; and what recent discussions (a) he and (b) Ministers in his Department have had with their NATO counterparts on this issue.

Andrew Murrison: The UK is one of just four NATO nations to spend 2% or more of gross domestic product on defence. On current plans, defence spending will continue to meet the 2% target for the current spending review period. Decisions on public spending after 2015-16 will be made in the next spending review.
	The question of defence spending by European NATO partners is regularly discussed at NATO defence ministerial meetings.

European Fighter Aircraft

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the cost to the public purse was of the visit of four RAF Typhoons to Edwards airforce base for interoperability trials with the joint strike fighter; and what goals were (a) planned and (b) set in such training.

Philip Dunne: No Typhoon aircraft have been deployed to Edwards air force base.

Joint Strike Fighter Aircraft

Thomas Docherty: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what he expects to make the next main gate decision for the F-35.

Philip Dunne: The UK remains committed to the Joint Strike Fighter programme, and the next Main Gate investment decision will be made in due course. The UK has already taken delivery of three F-35B aircraft and has one aircraft currently in production. It remains on track to enter service in 2018.

Military Aircraft

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what event or risk of event led to the approval of the Collision Warning Technology Demonstrator Programme for fast jet aircraft; when that event was identified; and where that event is recorded.

Philip Dunne: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 23 June 2014, Official Report, column 98W.

Companies: Ownership

Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what the penalties will be for companies which fail to properly declare their beneficial ownership on the public register.

Jennifer Willott: The Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Bill will make provision for the implementation of a central registry of company beneficial ownership information. The legislation will set out the penalties that apply to companies who fail to provide information, or provide false information, to Companies House. These will be based on, or extend, existing company law criminal offences.

Exports: Scotland

John Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what estimate he has made of the value of exports from businesses in (a) Glasgow North West constituency, (b) Glasgow and (c) Scotland to other EU member states in each of the last five years.

Michael Fallon: The value of goods exported by businesses in Scotland to other EU countries in each of the last five years is given in Table 1. Figures are not compiled for areas below Government office region (NUTS 1) level, such as Glasgow and Glasgow North West.
	These figures relate to exports of goods only. Regional data on exports of services is not available.
	
		
			 Table 1: Value of Scottish exports of goods to EU countries, 2009-13 
			 £ million 
			  2013 2012 2011 2010 2009 
			 Austria 53 58 80 63 47 
			 Belgium 1,371 979 879 904 727 
			 Bulgaria 46 31 30 22 25 
			 Croatia 10 11 9 9 9 
			 Cyprus 24 25 23 23 19 
			 Czech Republic 93 110 125 125 106 
			 Denmark 336 290 164 179 182 
			 Estonia 102 94 81 50 29 
			 Finland 113 81 74 81 53 
			 France 1,301 1,442 1,517 1,415 1,286 
			 Germany 1,258 1,229 1,275 1,209 1,041 
			 Greece 70 83 109 141 175 
			 Hungary 75 66 67 66 45 
			 Irish Republic 502 521 594 586 481 
			 Italy 416 428 616 470 419 
			 Latvia 194 97 65 37 18 
			 Lithuania 14 11 12 11 9 
			 Luxembourg 16 10 8 9 6 
			 Malta 18 12 11 11 8 
			 Netherlands 1,268 1,308 1,084 1,516 1,393 
			 Poland 200 182 213 175 146 
			 Portugal 97 116 157 149 109 
			 Romania 55 50 53 46 35 
			 Slovakia 18 12 15 11 11 
			 Slovenia 8 10 10 12 9 
			 Spain 685 623 808 772 733 
			 Sweden 371 269 250 230 163 
			 EU28 8,714 8,149 8,328 8,322 7,283 
			 Source: HMRC Regional Trade Statistics, interactive database https://www.uktradeinfo.com/Statistics/RTS/Pages/default.aspx

Furniture and Furnishings (Fire) (Safety) Regulations 1988

David Nuttall: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many inspections each local authority has carried out to ensure compliance with the Furniture and Furnishings (Fire) (Safety) Regulations 1988 in each of the last three years.

Michael Fallon: The data in the detail requested is not held centrally. The total number of inspections carried out by local authority trading standards across all products, which would include those for furniture and furnishings, was 9,674 in 2011.

Furniture and Furnishings (Fire) (Safety) Regulations 1988

David Nuttall: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many prosecutions there have been for breaches of the Furniture and Furnishings (Fire) (Safety) Regulations 1988 in each of the last three years.

Michael Fallon: The data requested is not held centrally.

Royal Mail

Ian Murray: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills with reference to the answer of 1 May 2014, Official Report, column 782W, on Royal Mail, what link was established in the engagement letter between the payment of the discretionary fee and the ending of the stabilisation period; and what targets or deadlines were set in the letter.

Michael Fallon: The engagement letter between the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and the syndicate of banks involved in the initial public offering indicated that the payment of the discretionary fee would be determined 10 days after the end of the stabilisation period and paid five days after that.
	As I said in my previous answer (1 May 2014, Official Report, column 782W), we informed the banks that a decision would not be taken in the timeframe set out in the engagement letter given the volatility of the Royal Mail share price after the IPO. The share price remains volatile.
	We have not set any timetable for the decision.

Royal Mail: Scotland

Jim Sheridan: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what estimate he has made of the proportion of Royal Mail staff who bought shares in the newly-privatised company in (a) Paisley and Renfrewshire North constituency, (b) Renfrewshire and (c) Scotland.

Michael Fallon: The Government has not made any estimates by constituency, county or country of shares bought by Royal Mail staff.
	As part of the Royal Mail Initial Public Offering, each eligible employee has now received 729 shares free of charge. Only 372 of the 147,000 eligible employees opted out of the scheme. Approximately 99.75% of employees accepted the shares that we offered them. Under the Employee Priority Retail Offer, over 15,000 employees (just over 10%) bought additional shares in Royal Mail.

Children: Maintenance

Pamela Nash: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what proportion of the total Child Support Agency arrears owed to parents with care is regarded as (a) potentially collectable and (b) likely to be collected in the next three years in (i) Scotland, (ii) England, (iii) Wales and (iv) Northern Ireland.

Steve Webb: The proportion of child maintenance arrears owed to parents with care that is potentially collectable and likely to be collected is shown in the following table, as at March 2013.
	Northern Ireland does not fall within the jurisdiction of the Great Britain Child Support Agency.
	Collectability analysis looks at the likelihood of arrears being collected and does not include a timeframe for collections.
	
		
			 Percentage 
			  Total potentially or likely to be collected Potentially collectable Likely collectable 
			 Scotland 26 13 13 
			 England 25 12 13 
			 Wales 26 13 13 
			 Notes: 1. Geographical breakdowns are based on the location of the non-resident parent in each case. 2. Collectability breakdowns as published in the Client Fund Accounts include an estimate for collections from future legal activity. As this has not yet occurred then it cannot be allocated to geographical areas so is not included in the figures above. 3. Proportions have been calculated using CS2 and CSCS cases only and excludes cases administered off system.

Children: Maintenance

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will place in the Library and publish the tender and bid for the Child Maintenance Options contract.

Steve Webb: Contract documents for the Child Maintenance Options contract are published on the Contracts Finder website. These documents include the contract itself, the requirements issued to bidders and the successful bidder’s response. Contracts Finder is a publicly accessible website where contract documents are published in order to meet government transparency commitments. The specific link to this contract is:
	https://online.contractsfinder.businesslink.gov.uk/Common/View%20Notice.aspx?site=1000&lang=en&noticeid=1072427&fs =true

Children: Maintenance

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much the Government expects to receive from (a) the 20 per cent deduction from the child maintenance payment of the paying parent and (b) the four per cent deduction of total payment of support to the child from the receiving parent.

Steve Webb: Paragraph 106 of the CSA Case Closure, Introducing CMS Fees, Supporting Family Based Arrangements Impact Assessment gives an estimate of the total income by year raised through the parent with care fee and the non-resident parent fee. This impact assessment, published on 22 November 2013, is available at
	https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/259694/cm-case-closure-and-charges-regs-ia-final.pdf

Nurseries

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the number of (a) staff in his Department and (b) members of the public who use his Department’s on-site nurseries.

Michael Penning: The number of DWP families who use the on site nurseries was provided in my answer of 10 April 2014, Official Report, columns 320-21W, to the hon. Member for Manchester Central (Lucy Powell).
	37 members of the public use the Department’s on site nurseries.

Personal Independence Payment

Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps he is taking to improve the personal independence claims and decision making process.

Michael Penning: We are committed to driving up PIP performance, and I am in regular contact with providers to do this—as you would expect. Unlike DLA, PIP involves a face to face consultation for most applicants. Around 80% of claimants will see a health professional instead of around 6% of DLA.
	We acknowledge that claims are currently taking too long and we have taken steps to improve performance. So far we have introduced:
	A dedicated phone service;
	An electronic transfer of information between claimant’s health professional, DWP and assessment providers.
	A new process to enable SRTI decisions to be made in-house with support from health care professionals.
	A streamlined Assessment Report form.

Universal Credit

Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has given to the tribunals service of how many appeals will be brought by universal credit claimants in each of the next five years.

Esther McVey: We announced our plans for the implementation of Universal Credit on 5 December, and these were set out in a written ministerial statement of 5 December 2013, Official Report,column 65WS. The WMS can be found here:
	http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201314/cmhansrd/cm131205/wmstext/131205m0001.htm#13120551000006
	Official statistics on universal credit were most recently published on 14th May and can be found at
	https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/universal-credit-statistics
	Our estimates of the number of appeals will depend on the details of the migration schedule which will be determined in due course.

Universal Credit

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the number of partners in small businesses who will apply for universal credit; and what steps such people need to take to establish their monthly income in order to do so.

Esther McVey: We have not produced estimates of the numbers of partners in small businesses who will apply for universal credit.
	Guidance on self-employment issued for universal credit decision makers can be found in the Advice for Decision Makers, which is available online at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/universal-credit-statistics

Courts: Children

Yasmin Qureshi: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  what assessment he has made of the treatment of child victims and witnesses within the courts system;
	(2)  what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the provisions available to support child victims and witnesses within the courts system; and if he will make a statement.

Damian Green: We do everything we can to support child witnesses and help them give their best possible evidence to bring offenders to justice. We are piloting recorded pre-trial cross-examination, allowing vulnerable witnesses for the first time to give evidence in advance of trial.
	In ‘Transforming the Criminal Justice System: Strategy and Action Plan’ (June 2013), the Ministry of Justice committed to improving the consistency and take-up of special measures for vulnerable and intimidated victims and witnesses, such as the use of live-link, screens in court and the use of an intermediary (communication specialist). We are working with other criminal justice agencies to deliver this.
	Child victims and witnesses are automatically eligible for special measures when giving evidence in court. The presumption in most cases is that they should give their evidence by video-recorded statement, and that any subsequent cross-examination is conducted by live-link with a supporter present who has been approved by the court.
	The pre-trial cross-examination pilot ends in October 2014 and the evaluation of the pilot will inform plans for any future rollout of the measure.

Human Trafficking

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many people were (a) prosecuted for, (b) convicted of, (c) cautioned for and (d) given a non-custodial sentence for human trafficking offences in each year since 2008.

Jeremy Wright: Severe maximum penalties are available for serious offences. Where an offender is prosecuted and convicted, sentencing in individual cases is a matter for the courts, taking account of all the circumstances of each case. This will include the seriousness of the offence, including all aggravating and mitigating factors, and a guilty plea.
	Since 2010, crime has continued to fall. At the same time offenders are more likely to be sent to prison and for longer.
	The number of offenders cautioned and defendants proceeded against at magistrates courts and found guilty and sentenced at all courts for offences related to human trafficking, in England and Wales, from 2008 to 2013, can be viewed in the table.
	
		
			 Offenders cautioned and defendants proceeded against at magistrates court, found guilty and sentenced at all courts for 'human trafficking' offences,1 England and Wales, 2008 to 20132, 3, 4 
			 Outcome 20085 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 
			 Cautions 2 — — 1 — — 
			 Proceeded against 61 47 30 21 29 36 
			 Found guilty 24 25 16 8 12 19 
			 Sentenced 24 25 16 8 12 19 
			 Of which:       
			 Absolute discharge — — — — — — 
			 Conditional discharge — — — — — — 
			 Fine — — — — — — 
		
	
	
		
			 Community sentence — — — — — — 
			 Suspended sentence 1 2 1 — — — 
			 Immediate custody 23 23 15 8 12 18 
			 Otherwise dealt with6 — — — — — — 
			 '—' = Nil. 1 Offences under section 4(1) to 4(3) of the Asylum and Immigration (treatment of Claimants Act 2004 and S 57 - 59 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003. 2 The figures given in the table relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been cautioned for or found guilty of two or more offences it is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe. 3 Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. 4 The number of offenders sentenced can differ from those found guilty as it may be the case that a defendant found guilty in a particular year, and committed for sentence at the Crown court, may be sentenced in the following year. 5 Excludes data for Cardiff magistrates court for April, July and August 2008. 6 The category Otherwise Dealt With (ODW) includes: one day in police cells; disqualification order; restraining order; confiscation order; travel restriction order; disqualification from driving; recommendation for deportation; and other miscellaneous disposals. Source: Justice Statistics Analytical Services—Ministry of Justice.

Insolvency

Richard Fuller: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what representations he has had on including insolvency litigation in the scope of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012.

Shailesh Vara: We have recently received representations from insolvency practitioners, including the Association of Business Recovery Professionals (R3), regarding a permanent exemption for insolvency litigation from the scope of the costs and funding provisions in part 2 of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders (LASPO) Act 2012. Ministry of Justice officials have met with R3 on this matter.
	The LASPO reforms were implemented generally from 1 April 2013, although they were delayed for insolvency proceedings in order to allow stakeholders time to adjust. The Government’s position remains-as announced by written ministerial statement in May 2012 (24 May 2012, Official Report, column 94WS)-that the reforms should apply to insolvency proceedings from April 2015.

Repossession Orders

Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much his Department expects to raise from increased Notice to Seek Possession fees in (a) 2014-15, (b) 2015-16 and (c) 2016-17.

Shailesh Vara: We expect to generate around £35 million in additional gross income in 2014-15 and subsequent years from increased Notice to Seek Possession fees.
	However, as part of our reforms we also removed the listing and allocation fees for possession claims in the county and High Court.

Fuel Duty

Gordon Henderson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the effect of freezing fuel duty on the price of petrol.

Nicky Morgan: Since 2011, the Government has abolished the previous Government’s fuel duty escalator, cut duty by 1 penny per litre and scrapped four planned duty increases. As a result, by the end of the Parliament, petrol will cost nearly 20 pence per litre less than under the previous Government’s plans.

Financial Devolution

Bob Blackman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what analysis his Department has undertaken of the feasibility of further financial devolution to London and other cities.

David Gauke: The Government keeps all decisions on tax policy under review. In addition, the Government has recently devolved a range of responsibilities and funding through the Localism Act 2011 and have decentralised local government finance through the Local Government Finance Act 2012. Any further fiscal devolution to sub-national authorities in England would represent a significant change to the existing tax landscape with potentially significant legal, economic and constitutional implications.

Money Advice Service

David Mowat: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans he has for the future of the Money Advice Service.

Andrea Leadsom: The Government has commissioned an independent review of the Money Advice Service, led by Christine Farnish, which will report to me by the end of the year.
	MAS has an important responsibility to increase financial knowledge and capability in the UK. The review will consider how effectively and efficiently MAS is meeting the consumer need for education and advice; and make recommendations on any changes to MAS’s approach that would better enable it to meet this need.

Children: Day Care

Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the number of divorced and separated parents who will have to decide which of them should own a tax-free childcare account; how HM Revenue and Customs plans to resolve disputes over such decisions; and what additional resources will be committed for this purpose.

Nicky Morgan: It is estimated that of the families that will directly benefit from the tax-free child care scheme around 95% are couples and 5% are lone parents. Based on the best available data, we estimate that around half of these lone parents will be either divorced or separated.
	Working lone parents are more likely to have lower income levels than working couples. More lone parents will therefore receive support for child care through tax credits and then subsequently universal credit which is generally more generous than tax-free child care.
	On 18 March the Government published its response to the consultation on design and operation of tax-free child care which sets out that where adults in a family are unable to reach agreement about which of them should claim, HMRC will consider the facts of the case and make a decision.
	The resource requirements of the scheme will be settled once the scheme’s details have been finalised.

Network Rail

John McDonnell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he expects Network Rail to be officially re-classified as a public sector company.

Danny Alexander: On 17 December 2013, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) announced that Network Rail will be classified as a central government body in the public sector. This is an independent statistical decision taken by the Office for National Statistics in light of the European System of National Accounts 2010 (ESA10) manual from Eurostat. The reclassification will be effective from 1 September 2014 when ESA10 comes into force across the European Union.

Sanitary Protection: Taxation

Naomi Long: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will bring forward proposals to abolish tax on sanitary products.

David Gauke: I refer the hon. Member to the answer that I gave on 12 June 2014, Official Report, column 256W.

Taxation

Stephen Metcalfe: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  what fiscal measures he has introduced to reduce taxes on families;
	(2)  what fiscal measures he has introduced to reduce the level of taxes paid by families.

David Gauke: This Government appreciates that times are tough and budgets are squeezed for families, which is why we have taken continued action to help ease the burden on hard working families.
	Measures have included raising the personal allowance to £10,500, abolishing the previous Government's fuel duty escalator, and introducing a further two years of council tax freeze funding in 2014-15 and 2015-16 for local authorities which choose to freeze council tax.

Video Games: Tax Allowances

Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps his Department is taking to promote the video games tax relief to video games producers.

David Gauke: The video games tax relief came into effect from 1 April 2014. This generous new relief will provide support for the growing video games sector in the UK.
	HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) are currently presenting a series of events across the country to promote and explain the new relief to the industry. A specialist unit has been provided to assist businesses with making claims. Guidance is available on HMRC's website to explain the relief and help businesses decide whether they are eligible for relief. HMRC are working closely with the video games industry to develop more detailed guidance, which will be published shortly.

Bangladesh

Julian Huppert: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps he is taking to ensure the Bangladeshi Government holds free and fair elections in future.

Hugh Robertson: The 10th parliamentary elections in Bangladesh were held on 5 January in accordance with Bangladesh’s constitution. Voters in more than half the constituencies did not have the opportunity to express their will at the ballot box and that turnout in most other constituencies was low.
	The British Government continues to encourage Bangladesh’s political parties to support political dialogue to find a long term solution to running participatory and non-violent elections, and urge that parties address the matter of political accountability. All parties should build the willingness and capacity to hold future participatory elections without fear of intimidation or reprisals.
	The British Government has also called on the Election Commission to mount a full and transparent investigation into reports of violence, harassment and interference in the voting process in recent local elections and take appropriate action.

Committee on Missing Persons in Cyprus

Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much the Government has paid to the Committee on Missing Persons in Cyprus in each of the last four years; and what assessment he has made of the cost-effectiveness of that committee.

David Lidington: In 2010 the Government made a bilateral contribution of US$4,037, and in 2013 the Government provided US$56,797. The Committee on Missing Persons (CMP) has used the UK’s most recent contribution to buy a backup generator and DNA matching software. EU funding of the CMP, to which the UK contributes, totalled US$16,289,719 from 2006-14. We did not provide any bilateral funds in 2011 or 2012.
	In addition to this financial support, the Government supports the CMP by allowing it to work from a British-owned site in the Buffer Zone, thus easing their administration costs. The UK also indirectly supports the CMP through lobbying of parties who can facilitate the Committee’s work. We hope that our political support and contributions through the EU will continue to help the CMP in their important work.
	CMP funds are administered by the United Nations Development Programme according to international accounting standards with independent financial audits undertaken on an annual basis. We have made no specific assessment of the cost effectiveness of the CMP. We nonetheless recognise and welcome the painstaking, sensitive, and technically challenging work undertaken by the bicommunal teams of the CMP.

UK Membership of EU

Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what his priorities are for renegotiating UK membership of the EU.

David Lidington: The Government's priorities are to reform the EU so that it is more flexible, competitive and democratically accountable. We want to see further deepening of the Single European Market, especially in services; an ambitious and sustained drive to cut red tape, and successful free trade negotiations with the United States, Japan and other countries. We are also seeking greater powers for groups of national parliaments to block or review EU legislation; an end to benefit tourism, and the development of economic and monetary union in a way that safeguards the interests of countries which have chosen not to join the euro. The Government has already made progress in delivering reform, including cutting the EU budget for the first time and securing reforms of the common fisheries policy that include a ban on discards and a shift to the regional and local management of fisheries.

United Arab Emirates

Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with the government of the United Arab Emirates regarding migrant workers' rights in that country; and if he will make a statement.

Hugh Robertson: We regularly discuss migrant workers’ rights with the Government of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). In addition, we made recommendations relating to the living and working conditions of foreign workers during the UAE’s last Universal Periodic Review at the UN Human Rights Council.

Developing Countries: Remittances

Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will make it her policy to support the adoption of a target to reduce to five per cent or below the transaction costs of migrants' remittances, including regulatory and administrative costs in Open Working Group negotiations on the sustainable development goals.

Justine Greening: As we have already made clear, the UK supports the target of reducing the average global cost of remittances to 5.0%. This language is included in the most recent draft goals and targets list released by the co-chairs of the Open Working Group (OWG) on 2 June.
	The final targets in the post-2015 development framework will however be subject to international negotiations in the United Nations, in which the UK will play an active role.

Freedom of Information

Stephen McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development to how many freedom of information requests on aid projects her Department has declined to provide information in each of the last 12 months.

Justine Greening: The Ministry of Justice (MOJ) publishes a quarterly statistics bulletin concerning FOI responses from all Government Departments including DFID. The bulletin includes tables showing how many requests were granted in full, or resulted in some information being withheld or all information withheld. The MOJ statistics bulletin can be found at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/government-foi-statistics